What a gorgeous day we had today – finally. No rain, nice breeze, 88 degrees F in the sun. It was a day just begging me to take some photos.
After my regular trip to the Audubon Library Branch, I strolled into Walton Woods Park. Immediately upon stepping on the paved pathway, I decided to look up just in case there was a squirrel or something. Imagine my surprise when I spied this guy sitting in all his glory:
Sigh. Why did I not buy a tripod at some point? Do you have any idea how hard it is to hold a good-sized camera still while pointing at a bird sitting about 30 feet above you? Do you know how difficult it is to get a really clear picture centered into that 3-inch camera screen? I totally failed at that; maybe I cut off the bird’s tail, but the rest is pretty impressive, don’t you think?
Fortunately, the hawk cooperated, although by the look on his (her?) face, there was some annoyance that I was probably scaring away the mice that were meant to be dinner:

Is that a glare, or what?
Well, I know when I’m not wanted, so I went on my way. The little geese have now become big, playful geese:

The race is on!
I really wanted to find some deer, but the recent rainy weather had turned the woods into a swamp (see the photo at the head of this post), and I hadn’t thought to bring along any bug spray. The mosquitos were bad enough, but when a fly landed on me and proceeded to bite my arm, I figured that was enough. As a child, I was bitten by a deer fly and my whole arm swelled up! Not doing that again.

This always makes me feel like Dorothy, even though it’s not a yellow brick road.
All in all, it was a pretty good Friday. Happy weekend, everyone!
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalie Studio
Funny that you say that, I mowed the lawn today and was bitten by two. Now my left hand and right upper arm are 5 times their normal size!
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Ugh. Take Benadryl.
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Nice capture on the hawk!
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Thank you. If only I had a tripod, I could have gotten an even better shot, but tripods are such a pain to drag around.
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Out here we don’t have many mosquitoes, and the flies don’t bite hard. It’s the rattlesnakes that can be a bit annoying.
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Ugh. I don’t even like garden snakes.
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what a beauty filled day you had! 🙂
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It was. Thank you.
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🙂
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You and nature most certainly got along yesterday, CM. Glad to see the results. Have a great weekend.
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Mother Nature did seem to smile on me yesterday. Thanks, Mark. And thanks for taking the time to read and comment during your wonderful vacay.
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Happy Weekend! May it be bite-free 🙂
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No such luck, I’m afraid. I get chewed up just taking Cody out in the backyard in the evening. But I really hate the smell and feel of insect repellent.
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Great pictures, CM!
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Thank you, Dan.
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Beautiful hawk! Reminds me of Claude, the buzzard that used to visit our garage roof, being rather partial to smoked bacon.
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A buzzard? I’d sure like to get a photo of one of those!
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Here’s my post on Claude with pics!!
https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2019/02/10/crafty-old-buzzard/
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Those are great photos! Thanks for sharing these!
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Thanks, Nick. I enjoyed taking them, except for the mosquitos and the fly.
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I see you had a ‘hawkward’ situation in the woods, CM. LOL! Spectacular shots as always, my friend. Happy weekend to you and yours too! (*^▽^)/
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I like that word “hawkward”. Thanks, NBC.
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♡(ŐωŐ人)
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Fabulous photos 💜 💜
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Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
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